


Set It Up

by pendragonfics



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Co-workers, Emotionally Hurt Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Eventual Fluff, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Medical Professionals, Mutual Pining, Post-Star Trek (2009), Requited Unrequited Love, Starfleet, Starfleet Academy, Whump, gender neutral reader, no pronouns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-24 17:07:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21981421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pendragonfics/pseuds/pendragonfics
Summary: You've known (of) Doctor McCoy since the Academy, but keeping to professionalism, you keep those feelings to yourself. Captain Kirk, tired of seeing two idiots dancing around their feelings, intervenes.
Relationships: Leonard "Bones" McCoy/Reader
Kudos: 67





	Set It Up

**Author's Note:**

> Another request from my tumblr!
> 
> & my hand slipped, and my word count doubled....whoops

It was years ago, the first time you ever saw him. You were sitting in the group study area of the Starfleet San Francisco student library. It was your fourth year, and the semester was almost over. But exams were yet to come. You, having organised the study group for your fellow fourth-year medicine students, sat idly as they brainstormed on what you had already learned, and memorised.

While they discussed non-human anatomical diagrams, you were people watching, idly. Your eyes grazed throughout the bottom floor of the study area until you caught sight of him. Dark hair, eyes, and the look on his face drew your attention. Frown lines, and unused but etched out smile-lines beside his eyes.

Just as you began to ponder further, your friend Christine walked and gently smacked you with the underside of her thick textbook.

“Ouch, what was that for?” You whispered, cursing a string of words. Hushed of course for the library’s volume limit. You weren't an animal.

“Oh, it won’t leave a mark, don’t be such a baby.” She admonished you, perching in the empty seat to your left. "That’s what you get for gawking at boys when you’re supposed to be studying.”

“__________’s actually running the group,” a member of the study circle piped up to your defence. “Did you know they already like, memorised the xenobiology textbook back to front?”

Christine chuckled. “Yeah, so have I, but I’m not staring at James Kirk like a brain-dead bug.” She nudged you gently, and added, “no offence but I’m just saying, you could do better...and you know, not on study time.”

"I was not-," you protest, rubbing the back of your head. "Is this because of second year?"

"He's like that with everyone," another member of your study group spoke up, softly. "Don't take it personally."

You didn’t have the guts to correct them, nor stir the pot at the mention of Christine's one-sided romance-slash-one-night-stand with Cadet Kirk. Unlike many of the people in Starfleet academy, you were not interested in James T. Kirk in that way. Sure, he had the manners of a country boy, but he also slept with anything that had legs, and the ability to consent.

So not your type.

No; you were not looking at James Kirk, the golden boy with hair that matched the sun. You were looking at his closest friend, the gruff man with inky midnight hair. His friend, a mystery to you.

* * *

Captain James Tiberius Kirk was not a laid-back man for simple reasons. Sure, he had the stress of organising safe passage for over two thousand people at a time and orchestrated the wills of Starfleet for their mission. On top of that, he had the problems of a regular man, be that in family, money, love and friends. He rarely saw his half-family back on Earth, and money wasn't a problem when he was paid the generous salary of a captain. Sex came as it did, mostly not so often while he was commandeering the Enterprise.

 _That_ was what shore leave was for.

But as a good friend, Jim Kirk was not one to fool around on the clock (too much). Scotty had Keenser, Spock had Uhura, and while he didn't have any long-term interests in settling down, he knew that his friend Bones surely did.

The poor bastard had been divorced and stripped of all he had before they met, and then with everything else that came with the job of being CMO on the ship, he had the gall to stay being a year-long Grinch. Jim's mind had been set since Bones' reaction to the second one night stand that he'd had back as a cadet. But now it was a thing: by the time that mandated shore leave came to an end, he would have Bones with someone.

* * *

His reputation, while not as prolific as some of the faces that he kept as company, still preceded him. At first, you only knew him as the ‘gruff man that flanked Captain Kirk's side’, but as time went on, you learned his name.

Doctor Leonard McCoy.

If it wasn't for the fact that you were transferred by Admiral Pike, you perhaps wouldn't have had the opportunity to be on the same starship as each other. Let alone working beneath him as Nurse. But still, it was an honour, and whenever your paths crossed, you kept your professional face forward. No matter what, you would keep to your oath as a healer, and those feelings would come second.

While in the Medbay, he was curt, quick to the jump, and a furiously good worker. Not that you believed that Captain Kirk was one to get into trouble - he was - or that he often endangered the crew with those actions - anyplace was dangerous, and it was a fact - but it seemed that the work in the Medbay was never finished. There was always an engineer with a pinched nerve, a scientist with an adverse reaction to alien flora, and because of this, the immersion into your work was both a blessing and a curse.

Maybe because the closer you came to your superior, that crush from years ago would flare up, and you’d have to work extra hard to keep your work ethic up. It didn’t help that half the time that you and Doctor McCoy were on shift together, he was _doubly_ grumpy, and you’d have to circumnavigate that as well as your own feelings.

But that was fine. You were a professional. Keeping your feelings to yourself in order to keep to Starfleet code was easily done. It wasn’t like you were denying yourself anything - if anything, your needs were still there. Waiting. On the back burner.

That was fine. Everything was fine.

* * *

In time, you were alerted, like the rest of the crew, that the USS Enterprise was to approach a Federation planet for among other things, structural maintenance, restocking, and such. It also meant that everyone working on the Enterprise would get time to themselves while docked. It was your first ever shore leave, and excited, you idly planned things to do with such freedom. But while your co-workers chatted eagerly about the chance for some time away from the Enterprise, you kept quiet, and to your duties while on the clock.

Not that Doctor McCoy also being on shift as the news broke had anything to do with that.

"Oh, you -" he acknowledges upon entering the Medbay. "Nurse -,"

"__________," you supply, perhaps too quickly, "What can I do to be of assistance?"

He pauses in the doorway, swaying where he stands. Your keen eyes swept over his form; though he had just arrived on shift, you could see hints of fatigue; the bags beneath his eyes, the slowed movement, the deep frown upon his face.

He doesn't reply and approaching your superior officer, you ask again, "Are you feeling well, sir? Should I -,"

"It's fine, Nurse __________." He snaps, brushing past you.

It's a _very_ rare day with no patients in the room, and you watch him as he goes toward his small office in the rear of the Medbay. He closes the door behind him and flicks the old-style Earth blinds over the glass on the door. You bite at your lip, chewing in earnest. What could be the matter?

* * *

By the time that Jim found out that Bones wasn't going to be on-planet for shore leave, it was too late to reschedule things so there would be an excuse for his friend to go and have fun. Not that Jim needed any reasonable excuse for that to happen.

He'd once orchestrated a fake wedding between Spock and Uhura to try and get Bones to stop working so damn late (but that had fallen through, mostly because it turned out that Spock was actually thinking about proposing to Nyota, and Jim's intervention had apparently been a "disaster" to Spock's carefully planned proposal). Jim had even once pretended to be sick in his quarters to have Bones inspect him personally (Jim had planned to trap him inside, watch holo-films and drink whiskey) but then Doctor M'Benga came instead of his friend, and he was forced to get the vaccinations that he'd been avoiding.

But now Jim had the perfect plan. He'd seen how Bones acted around that Nurse he always worked with - Nurse __________. Jim could have sworn that his friend chose to work alongside her because the man had driven every other person of her rank away. But, nonetheless. Jim had a plan. While not exactly a connoisseur of true love, Jim knew how to make it all pan out.

He could go about it like his other tricks, make something that was memorable, perhaps borderline disastrous, but his friend deserved the best. It wasn't a prank if someone was at least consenting in some way, right? And as far as Jim knew, both parties certainly were.

He saw how the pair of them looked at each other on the security footage. Like lovesick children! Like kids who had no idea how to communicate the finer details of their feelings to one another! Like two medical professionals too immersed in their careers to see beyond their noses!

That was where Jim came in, and smirking to himself at his brilliance, Jim went to reply to the message that had come into his communicator and make some magic.

* * *

The fact that Christine called you up out of the blue, and _then_ set you up on a date should have seemed fishier than it was. But to you, your fellow Nurse was just a close friend, looking out for your pitiful love life, and even being assigned to a separate Medbay to you wouldn’t stop her from reaching out. But you trusted Christine, perhaps with your own life, if it ever came to it. Her judgement was (nearly) law, and so, you buzzed throughout the day, a mix of trepidation and excitement keeping you going.

You were supposed to meet the person at five at the entrance of the main mess hall, but there wasn’t anyone there. Confused, and a little betrayed, you messaged Christine for answers, but all she said was that he worked with you and that she’d kick his ass if he stood you up. You wouldn’t wish her wrath on anyone, and instead of feeling upset, you decided to find the mystery date yourself.

It was a quick walk to the Medbay, and though it was the off shift, the current nurses greeted you kindly. But when you asked about anyone who wasn’t supposed to be working being in the Medbay, all that one nurse who wasn’t wearing his nametag said was, “I don’t know about anyone, but the CMO is still in his office.”

 _Was Christine setting me up with…?_ You wondered.

There wasn’t a reply as you knocked at the door, and walking in, you saw why. Laying face-down on the desk, arms cradling his head, was Doctor Leonard McCoy. His hair was crisp in a way in which needed washing, from either from being carded through or lack of a care routine to it. He slept soundly as you closed the door behind you and made your way to his side of the desk, creeping around the papers that littered all the surfaces of the room.

A pit settled in your stomach as you regarded him.

Sleeping, he looked like a different man from the one you worked with. His frown-lines were unwrinkled, demeanour relaxed, and for a moment, you felt your heart jump at the sight of your long-time crush, and senior officer before you.

Ever since you were a little kid, your favourite type of person was someone that had two faces; one to the world, and one hidden beneath that one. That was perhaps because your favourite fairy- was _Snow White & Rose Red_. When you were seven, you spent a weekend seeking out the bears in the forest in search of a fairy-tale prince that was cursed to be one. Your parents quickly put an end to that, and ever since, you were left with one type of love on your mind. The kind where you would sift through, searching for the hidden prince beneath.

Maybe that’s why, after all this time you still liked him.

He stirred as you placed a hand on his, sitting up when you started to make sense of all the papers that were everywhere. You didn’t realise that he’d been awake until you looked over your shoulder, his papers in your hands.

“Hi,” you greeted, “uh, Doctor McCoy. Sorry to wake you.”

He blinked.

* * *

Jim was having a not very good day on the bridge, what, with Spock and Uhura’s latest spat over something that he didn’t care about. He excused himself, leaving his duties to his first mate, and made his way to the Medbay for something for the headache. Hopefully, he’d be administered something that wasn’t in a shot.

But when he got down there, he couldn’t see Bones anywhere. Records on his PADD said that he hadn’t clocked off, and yet, he wasn’t in the main area. Curious, Jim let himself into the back room, only to find -

“Nurse __________,” he greeted, looking between them, and his friend, “Bones!”

“Jim,” Leonard gritted out. “What are you doing here?”

“I want something for the migraine. Or at least, it feels like one. Don’t diagnose me, just give me the good stuff.” He prattled, looking through a first aid box that sat on one of the tables beside the desk. “I see you two are hitting it off. I thought tonight was your date, Nurse __________?”

“Uh -,”

“Jim, you have no right to pry into the private lives of my staff,” Leonard spoke up.

“Speaking of, why aren’t you at your date?” Jim added, finding what he needed in the box, and popping the paracetamol into his mouth, the captain of the Enterprise swallowed the pill dry in one go. “Sorry. I shouldn’t pry, bye!”

At that, he left the pair of them to their confusion, and waltzed back to his post, confident he’d ride out the headache.

* * *

“You have a date?” You heard Doctor McCoy ask you, a flush of heat growing on his pale face. Suddenly, you felt barer than you did five seconds ago when your captain and personal nuisance had waltzed in and exposed your private life. “Why aren’t you - what are you doing here?”

“They didn’t show up,” you reply, softly. “My friend - Nurse Chapel - she said they worked here, and I came to give them a piece of my mind, but then someone out there said you were still here, and I -,” you felt a wave of embarrassment flash across your face, and somewhat mortified, you stopped speaking.

“I’ll give that guy a piece of my mind.” He grunted. But as he went to stand, he sat almost immediately back down, in an unceremoniously simple way in which made you hear sirens. “…but not right yet.”

You blinked, placing all the things together that you’d observed over the last few days. “…sir, I think you’re experiencing fatigue.” You tell him, placing your wrist against his forehead. He recoiled, but just as you thought, he was burning up. Rescinding your hand, you began working on finding something to get him enough energy to rest in his room. “At least tell me you had plans that you’re missing, so I can feel better about missing out on mine.”

He snorted. “…Jim set me up. The bastard doesn’t realise what today is to me.”

You paused, looking to your superior. “If you don’t mind me asking, sir…what is today, to you?”

Doctor McCoy paused, and, softly, as if he’d never said it aloud in the first place, he told you, “It’s my daughter’s birthday. She’s eleven today, and I promised I’d be - I’d be back home for her.”

You looked to your hands. _You'd never think of him having a daughter, and yet...you could already picture her_. “I can see how that would tear you up.” You empathise, the words slipping out as fast as they come to your mind, no time to filter them at all. “…although I’m glad I missed out on my date, too. I don’t have a good experience with it at all.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, Nurse - __________…?”

“Oh, well…the last time I went on a date, it was back at the academy, about fourth year? He was a quite nice guy, studying computer engineering. A looker.” You tell him, not sure why you feel so comfortable saying all this to him. “He turned out to be very much in love with his ex-girlfriend and he told me all about her all that night.”

“Did you call him back?” Doctor McCoy asked you humourlessly.

“Stars, no. And I haven’t gone out with anyone else since. Well, until…” you trail off, turning back to your supervisor. “I can’t find anything in here to give you, so I’m prescribing you the old-fashioned treatment of rest.” You tell Doctor McCoy. “I’ll even walk you back to your room so that I know you make it there.”

“My hero,” he said in his dry, Georgian accent.

Once you helped him to his feet, you got Doctor McCoy to walk out surreptitiously without your help. But once you exited the Medbay, you reclaimed your hold on him as so to keep his status in the workplace and got to talking. You spoke of how you knew of his friend the Captain, and how you were to meet the date at five o’clock. It was then he paused.

“I was supposed to meet my date at five.” He said.

You frown. “The one you said Captain Kirk set you up on?” you asked him.

Doctor McCoy nodded. “Yep, that’s the one. I was supposed to meet them at the mess hall, the big one, but -,”

“Oh my -,” you realise, looking at your feet like you just realised that they were attached to you, feeling something new in your chest, a rush of surprise, and exhilaration, “I think you’re my blind date.”

There was a strange noise, and looking to the man beside you in curiosity, you realised quite quickly that he was laughing. Quietly, of course, and in a way that sounded like a snuffle, or a chuckle, really. But he was laughing.

“Of course,” he smirked. “No wonder Jim was in our business like that. And your friend, Chapel, I’m sure she hates Jim but would do anything for you -,”

“Very true,” you retort. “It’s just…quite funny that it’s come to this.” You gesture toward Doctor McCoy, leaning on your tiredly as if he’s from the old Earth film _Weekend at Bernie’s_ but is very much alive. “…I’ve always had a thing for you, you know.”

“Sorry, I…sorry I messed up your date for you,” He replied sheepishly, and added softly, looking your way, “…and I like you too. Have done for a while.”

“Would you go out with me?” you ask, hopefully. “Doctor McCoy?”

He grinned and pecked your cheek with a kiss. The five o’clock shadow tickled you and left you tingling after he rescinded from your proximity. “’course I’ll go out with you. Just not while I’m like,” he gestured to himself, just like you did before.

“Let’s get you to your room, doctor.” You chuckle, walking him on his way once more. Working together, you both made short work of it and made it to Doctor McCoy’s private room in good time. “…rest up, sir.”

“Thank you, __________.” He nodded, turning toward his room.

The door was about to close, but placing your hand in the way, it waited, and you met his eyes. “Good night, Doctor. And a happy birthday to your daughter.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on Tumblr on as @chaotic--lovely, and if you want to request a fic, check out [@pendragonfics](https://pendragonfics.tumblr.com/request_conditions)! ʕ·ᴥ·ʔ✿


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